Grand Jury Hands Up Indictment of Sheldon Silver

A grand jury today handed up a three-count indictment against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on charges of mail and wire fraud and extortion, a month after U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara shook the city’s political class with a criminal complaint against the longtime Manhattan legislator.

The 24-page indictment largely reiterates the claims Mr. Bharara made last month: that Mr. Silver used his powerful position to steer wealthy developers with business before the state toward the law firm Goldberg and Iryami, and to funnel state money into a cancer research center that encouraged clients to retain the personal injury firm Weitz & Luxemburg—while the speaker received some $6 million in referral fees from both entities.

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